Listening Part 2 You will hear 5 conversations. Listen to the conversations and answer the questions. Choose the correct answer. You will hear each conversation twice. Conversation 1 You hear two students called Ruby and Leo talking about a group presentation they're preparing. What's wrong, Ruby? You look a bit worried. It's just our presentation on Wednesday, Leo. Why did I think it was a good idea to have our practice run through on Tuesday evening? That's when everyone was free. But we'll have left it too late to sort things out if they're not working. What if Jonathan has a problem? If his projector isn't working or he needs to add more photos or graphs, we won't have any time to fix it. Calm down, Ruby. It'll turn out okay. Look on the bright side. You put together a great team who really know their stuff. Me doing the research and Meg's on the script. And Alex is comfortable in front of a crowd, so you chose well there too. Making him the lead speaker was genius. You get the best out of people, Ruby, and we won't let you down. Oh, do you really think so? What's wrong, Ruby? You look a bit worried. It's just our presentation on Wednesday, Leo. Why did I think it was a good idea to have our practice run through on Tuesday evening? That's when everyone was free. But we'll have left it too late to sort things out if they're not working. What if Jonathan has a problem? If his projector isn't working or he needs to add more photos or graphs? We won't have any time to fix it. Calm down, Ruby. It'll turn out okay. Look on the bright side. You put together a great team who really know their stuff. Me doing the research and Meg's on the script. And Alex is comfortable in front of a crowd, so you chose well there too. Making him the lead speaker was genius. You get the best out of people, Ruby, and we won't let you down. Oh, do you really think so? Conversation 2. You hear a teacher talking to a student about changing his major in college. Good to see you, Conrad. Are you well? I'm okay, thanks. But there's something I need to talk with you about. It's my major. I'm not sure I want to continue with environmental chemistry. Okay. Well, as long as you haven't completed 90 units already. No, I haven't. I'm only in my freshman year. It's just that a few of my friends are switching now, and I really enjoyed your biology class. I guessed as much. Your term paper was really strong. To be honest, I was expecting this conversation. So what's the best thing to do now? Go to the admissions office. How about signing up for the class I'm running next semester? Do I do that now? Yeah, it'll be a good way to confirm that this switch is right for you. And did you consult your family to see what they say? I'll talk with them in the vacation. I think they'll be pretty supportive as long as there's no impact on the fees. That's something you can ask admissions before you go home for spring break. Good to see you, Conrad. Are you well? I'm okay, thanks. But there's something I need to talk with you about. It's my major. I'm not sure I want to continue with environmental chemistry. Okay. Well, as long as you haven't completed 90 units already. No, I haven't. I'm only in my freshman year. It's just that a few of my friends are switching now, and I really enjoyed your biology class. I guessed as much. Your term paper was really strong. To be honest, I was expecting this conversation. So what's the best thing to do now? Go to the admissions office. How about signing up for the class I'm running next semester? Do I do that now? Yeah. It'll be a good way to confirm that this switch is right for you. And did you consult your family to see what they say? I'll talk with them in the vacation. I think they'll be pretty supportive as long as there is no impact on the fees. That's something you can ask admissions before you go home for spring break. Conversation 3 You hear two biology students talking about a joint project they're working on. So, just to go over things, basically the data from Rausner and Shah's study shows that 77 tropical bird species in the Amazon rainforest have lost body weight over the last 40 years. And the climate change argument, according to Professor Lim, says that, yeah, a smaller surface area to volume ratio allows birds and mammals to cool the body more effectively. So birds will get smaller as temperatures rise. Sure, a 1.3 degree rise in temperature, but also more extreme weather patterns. 13% more rain in the wet season and 15% less in the dry season, reported in the Egyptian research. And the birds in the Amazon study evidently lost mass more rapidly after very dry or wet seasons. Right, so that was the idea, that loss of body mass could be partly a kind of emergency reaction to changes in the environment. Rather than entirely down to evolution then. Yeah, that's what the professor was saying. For example, lack of rainfall causes a decline in the number of insects the birds feed on, so they're not eating as much. Yep. So, just to go over things, basically the data from Rausner and Shah's study shows that 77 tropical bird species in the Amazon rainforest have lost body weight over the last 40 years. And the climate change argument, according to Professor Lim, says that, yeah, a smaller surface area to volume ratio allows birds and mammals to cool the body more effectively. So birds will get smaller as temperatures rise. Sure, a 1.3 degree rise in temperature, but also more extreme weather patterns. 13% more rain in the wet season and 15% less in the dry season, reported in the Egyptian research. And the birds in the Amazon study evidently lost mass more rapidly after very dry or wet seasons. Right, so that was the idea, that loss of body mass could be partly a kind of emergency reaction to changes in the environment. Rather than entirely down to evolution then. Yeah, that's what the professor was saying. For example, lack of rainfall causes a decline in the number of insects the birds feed on, so they're not eating as much. Yep. Conversation 4 You hear two students talking about their studies. Did you get that message about Professor Gould being off sick today? What? You're kidding me? No, my phone's not charging properly. When did that come through? Just now, this morning. So anyone who needs more time to finish their project off can have two more days. Oh, that's annoying. Well, poor Professor Gould. But I stayed up most of the night rushing get mine done for this morning's deadline and I'm not very happy with it. If I'd known I could have left it till this afternoon when I've got no lectures. Well I'm handing mine in anyway but look you're being silly because you can now put the finishing touches to it this afternoon. Yes, if I can stay awake after two hours' sleep. But you've done all the hard work, so there shouldn't be too much to do, hopefully. Yes. The only trouble is, I might end up basically starting again with one section. No, don't do that. It's not worth being too fussy when you've already spent so long on it. I'd just limit your time to, say, a couple more hours. You're never going to get it absolutely perfect, and presumably you've already edited it. I'd offer to look over it myself if I had time. Did you get that message about Professor Gould being off sick today? What? You're kidding me? No, my phone's not charging properly. When did that come through? Just now, this morning. So anyone who needs more time to finish their project off can have two more days. Oh, that's annoying. Well, poor Professor Gould. But I stayed up most of the night rushing to get mine done for this morning's deadline. And I'm not very happy with it. If I'd known, I could have left it till this afternoon, when I've got no letches. Well, I'm handing mine in anyway. But look, you're being silly because you can now put the finishing touches to it this afternoon. Yes, if I can stay awake after two hours' sleep. But you've done all the hard work, so there shouldn't be too much to do, hopefully. Yes. The only trouble is, I might end up basically starting again with one section. No, don't do that. It's not worth being too fussy when you've already spent so long on it. I'd just limit your time to, say, a couple more hours. You're never going to get it absolutely perfect, and presumably you've already edited it. I'd offer to look over it myself if I had time. Conversation 5 You hear a student called Mark talking to his course tutor about online lectures. So, Mark, I'd be interested to get feedback from you on the online teaching we've been using. Personally, I still think face-to-face has many advantages. Well, with the lectures, it doesn't really seem to make much difference whether we're physically in the room or not, purely from a learning point of view, I mean. Like when some core lectures are delivered face-to-face and recorded anyway, then put on the university intranet. OK, there are other issues, like the socialising being good for your mental state and being able to chat afterwards over a coffee. Well, precisely. So, maybe the face-to-face delivery does actually facilitate a better learning environment, because over coffee, students can talk informally about what they've just heard or explain bits to others who haven't understood. So a vital stage of information processing is gained with face-to-face. Well, with respect, I think that overestimates the student's willingness to indulge in this kind of analysis. Most of the time, the lecture just gets forgotten, and everything else in your life takes over. In-depth reaction is what follow-up seminars are for, surely? But maybe there's a place for both, the formalized seminar and the seemingly useless chat. After all, a lot of businesses value the creative impulses derived from conversations around the water cooler. So, Mark, I'd be interested to get feedback from you on the online teaching we've been using. Personally, I still think face-to-face has many advantages. Well, with the lectures, it doesn't really seem to make much difference whether we're physically in the room or not, purely from a learning point of view, I mean. Like when some core lectures are delivered face-to-face and recorded anyway, then put on the university intranet. OK, there are other issues, like the socialising being good for your mental state and being able to chat afterwards over a coffee. Well, precisely. So maybe the face-to-face delivery does actually facilitate a better learning environment, because over coffee, students can talk informally about what they've just heard or explain bits to others who haven't understood. So a vital stage of information processing is gained with face-to-face. Well, with respect, I think that overestimates the students' willingness to indulge in this kind of analysis. Most of the time, the lecture just gets forgotten, and everything else in your life takes over. In-depth reaction is what follow-up seminars are for, surely? But maybe there's a place for both the formalised seminar and the seemingly useless chat. After all, a lot of businesses value the creative impulses derived from conversations around the water cooler. That is the end of Part 2.